Sid Meier's Civilization® VI

“Strategy” is a deceptively broad category in games, but one of the most enduring formats within it is 4X games. These games are built around the four “Xs” in the name: Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Sid Meier’s Civilization series is perhaps the most popular and enduring example of 4X for the past thirty years, but there are plenty of other options to check out if you feel the siren call of “one more turn” in your heart.

Starting a brand new town hundreds or thousands of years ago would have been a risky proposition: The odds were stacked against your survival out there on your own in the untamed wilderness, and it would have taken a lot of strength, skill, and planning in order to build anything that lasted. Survival city-builders are all about this struggle, and this year has seen the launch of one that’s quickly becoming one of my favorites: